TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION NOVEMBER 2009, VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2 ARCHEOLOGY IN TEXAS IN THIS ISSUE Stewards of a Public Trust 1 A Texas Swampland Tale 9 NEWS AND EVENTS Wolfe Is New THC 14 Executive Director New Law Protects 14 Cemeteries in State New Belle Conservation 15 Plan Approved Story Receives Lifetime 16 Figure 1. Distribution of State Parks Division (left) and Wildlife Division properties (right) in Texas. Achievement Award THC Honors Groups 17 Historic Lands Plaques 17 Presented to Landowners Stewards of a Public Trust Curatorial Facilities 17 Certified TPWD Outlines Procedures for Archambeault Joins 18 Cultural Resource Studies on Public Lands Archeology Division Archeologists Search for 18 Christopher Lintz and Michael Strutt San Xavier Mission Ike Clean-up Crew Finds 19 he Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) oversees the state’s Newly-Revealed Wreck expansive park system and protects and manages fish and wildlife TAM Celebrates 20th 20 populations, but its role is far more complex. The agency’s stated mission Books on Spanish Wrecks 22 is “to manage and conserve the natural and cultural resources of Texas and Posted Online to provide hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities for the Tuse and enjoyment of present and future generations.” As the state agency’s land has REGIONAL AND increased over the years, the resource management responsibilities have multiplied. STEWARD NEWS Broadly speaking, lands owned by TPWD are managed for the public trust and are Regional 23 acquired to conserve cultural resources, natural plant habitats, and animal communities. Archeologists’ Reports More specifically, as a state agency with a land and resource management assignment, TASN Celebrates 25th 27 the area of cultural resource protection is an important component of this job. Steward Available Now 27 Introducing TPWD’s Structure and Organization Turners Honored 30 TPWD’s main landholding divisions are the State Parks, Wildlife, Inland Fisheries, Looking Ahead 30 and Coastal Fisheries divisions. Of these, the State Parks Division (SPD) and Wildlife Nomination Form 31 Division (WD) are the two primary land-managing entities. The two divisions have 2 • TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION • CURRENT ARCHEOLOGY IN TEXAS different funding sources, public use objectives, missions, Sometimes, TPWD will solicit bids for cultural resource and extent of development rules, and as such, the two services for proposed projects on SPs and WMAs. Most divisions implement third-party land-access agreements contract CR firms are familiar with the process of bidding in slightly different ways. on cultural resource projects and the standard activities SPD is responsible for managing 94 properties that needed to fulfill the usual terms of the TPWD contract. total 916.4 square miles and include 74 state parks, 10 state However, CR firms must take a number of additional historic sites, three state parks/state historic sites, and seven steps in order to obtain permission to access TPWD lands state natural areas (Figure 1, Table 1). For the purposes of when conducting cultural resource studies for third party this discussion, this whole group is called state parks (SPs). clients. Third party clients usually include groups in the WD manages 51 Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), energy (oil/gas, seismic, etc.) or transmission (power totaling about 1,117.5 square miles (Figure 1, Table 2). line, pipeline, gas lines, etc.), or utility industries, whose In both divisions, some TPWD properties are lands activities occasionally occur on or cross TPWD-managed transferred from other agencies by the legislature, purchased lands. Even companies with legal rights to extract subsur - by state-issued bonds, or acquired by private land donations face minerals from under TPWD property have to comply or probated estates. Other lands are simply managed by with conditions stipulated in TPWD Surface Use Agree- TPWD under programmatic agreements on behalf of various ments (SUAs). other state agencies or subdivisions (e.g., Texas Department SUAs may include a range of instruments, such as of Transportation mitigation land bank; various river, easements and geophysical permits, depending upon the electric, or utility authorities; and city- or county-owned nature of the third-party request. They also cover such properties). Still other lands are managed by TPWD under conditions as facility placement, points of entry, and access long-term leases and are owned by federal agencies; these timing to ensure that activities related to the study do not agreements include partnerships with the Bureau of adversely affect (1) breeding, nesting, and migratory activity Reclamation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and locales for migratory and native species, including and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service. endangered species; (2) TPWD’s schedule, as well as its At full capacity, TPWD has 15 full-time staff archeologists ability to manage wildlife and habitats and to operate and a few temporary or hourly cultural resource employees. properties; or (3) public use areas in SPs by inflicting The SPD has a program director, full-time regional archeol - unsightly project scars or intrusive noise. ogists stationed at each of the state’s eight regions, four Ultimately, TPWD’s mission and goal is to avoid cultural full-time staff assigned to the Archeology Survey Team, and resource disturbances when alternate options are available. one staff member directing several part-time workers at Some SUAs may also require avoidance, maintenance or the Archeology Laboratory. The WD has one archeologist restoration of roads, levees, fences, and natural features that managing resources and conducting projects on the WMAs. might be damaged by direct and indirect adverse project The agency also relies on the expertise of in-house historians effects during surveys or third-party project implementation. and architectural historians to supplement the prehistoric Essentially, any firm working on TPWD lands must meet and historic archeological staff, as well as several material the agency’s stated mission for properly managing resources conservators who maintain various collections of furniture, within its properties. period artifacts, and documents that support the historic The cultural resource permits and consultation processes sites. TPWD also maintains a state-certified curation facility needed to work on TPWD-managed lands depends upon at the Archeology Laboratory that exclusively manages the requirements and authority of the landowner. Projects the artifacts, records, and photographs from projects on conducted on federally-owned lands, or those developed TPWD properties. under federal permit or with federal funds managed by TPWD, require compliance with Section 106 of the National Cultural Resource Studies by Historic Preservation Act. In contrast, projects conducted Private Consultants on TPWD Lands on properties owned by the State of Texas or its subdivisions The Antiquities Code of Texas requires TPWD to obtain and managed by TPWD need to comply with the Antiquities an annual Antiquities Permit when TPWD staff conduct Code of Texas as well as TPWD rules and guidelines for small-scale projects on TPWD properties. All cultural operations conducted on TPWD lands. Invariably, projects resource consulting firms (CR firms) working on TPWD conducted on federal lands, using federal funds, or under lands and TPWD staff working on some larger agency federal permit will require coordination with the appropriate projects are required to obtain separate permits, regardless lead federal agency and possible consultation with other of whether the entire, or just a small percentage, of the interested parties. It is important to note that different proposed project area crosses TPWD land. staff members within the Archeology Division of the Texas STEWARDS OF A PUBLIC TRUST • 3 Historical Commission (THC) review federal undertakings is the standard recommended by the TPWD and THC for and state projects on TPWD-administered lands. this work. TPWD may require strict adherence to the field The TPWD staff will assist CR firms through the THC guideline methods to ensure that the proposed field practices consultation process. As soon as the consulting archeologists meet the agency’s needs for identifying resources. This means become aware that one of their client’s proposed projects that TPWD cultural resource staff may not accept landscape may occur on TPWD administered lands, they should advise classifications identifying “low site probability areas” that their client to begin the process of obtaining an SUA, if this the consulting firm archeologists recommend only need has not already been done. The conditions of this agreement superficial field inspections. As the responsible managing hold the firm’s client to certain entry and access requirements, agency, TPWD is committed to ensuring that the resource specify the allowed range of activities by construction workers has a fair chance of being identified and managed. When and the client’s consultants, and provide post-project the Antiquities Permit proposal is acceptable and complete, restoration commitments to reduce the impact on the habitat. the authorized TPWD staff will sign the landowner’s certifi - Slight procedural differences exist in the ways SPD and cation line on the permit application and TPWD will forward WD implement the necessary agreements to begin cultural the Antiquities Permit application to the THC for permit resource projects. The